Actress Dagmara Dominczyk Sells First Novel (Exclusive)

Spiegel & Grau buys coming-of-age tale, "The Lullaby of Polish Girls," while Paradigm handles the sale of film rights.

Spiegel & Grau, the Random House imprint, has bought The Lullaby of Polish Girls, the first novel from actress Dagmara Dominczyk, with a pre-emptive bid.

The book is the coming-of-age tale of three girlfriends from Kielce, Poland. The story takes place in both Poland and the U.S., and follows their lives over several decades. Dominczyk also plans to develop the novel as a feature film.

Dominczyk recently starred opposite Vera Farmiga in Higher Ground and will be seen next year as Ed Harris’ wife in the submarine thriller Phantom. She also starred opposite Jim Caviezel in the Count of Monte Christo, playing Edmund Dante’s fiancé Mercedes. Her TV credits include roles on The Good Wife, Suits, 24, and Third Watch.

Dominczyk own life story roughly mirrors that of her characters in The Lullaby of Polish Girls. She was born in Kielce, but emigrated to the United States in 1983 as a political refugee because of her father’s involvement in Solidarity, the political movement headed by Lech Walesa. The family relocated to New York City.

Dominczyk graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1998 with a major in Drama.

Julie Grau will be editing the book at Spiegel & Grau. Paradigm brokered the deal and will be handling the sale of film rights.